


Kiss My Friends

by cloneclubbingcreampuff



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-04
Updated: 2014-12-04
Packaged: 2018-02-28 03:10:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2716685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cloneclubbingcreampuff/pseuds/cloneclubbingcreampuff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lydia is tired of watching Stiles pine after Derek, so she makes a deal with him, which may be the best or worst decision of her life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kiss My Friends

Watching Stiles slowly descend into madness because of his blatant crush on Derek should have been hilarious. And it kind of was, at first. Now it just made Lydia want to tear her hair out, because Derek seemed to be all that Stiles talked about lately. How hot he was, with his chiseled cheek bones and defined muscles. How mysterious and sultry he was and how Stiles couldn't stop thinking about him. How his eyes glinted in the sun or how his hair looked so perfect all the time--

"Stiles," she said, when they were at her locker after the last period of the day. "I am going to jump off a cliff if you don't stop talking about Derek. Just please, do something about your crush, okay? Ask him out already." She held up her hand as Stiles opened his mouth to protest. "And don't bother denying it. You are far past that stage, honey. It's time to accept it and go out for coffee or a movie or something. Because I am going insane."

"I--I can't," Stiles said, waving his arms. "He'll reject me, I just know it. And you know me, Lyds. I don't have any backbone."

Lydia rolled her eyes. "I think he likes you too."

"That's not good enough," Stiles grumbled.

"Fine. How about this? You can dare me to do anything--non-life threatening, of course. And in exchange, you'll ask Derek on a date. Okay?" "

Okay," Stiles said. There was a twinkle in his eye, one that Lydia didn't like. With good reason, it turned out. "I dare you to kiss all your girl friends. I'll need photographic evidence."

Lydia groaned and shut her locker hard. "I really hate you sometimes, you know that?"

 

\----

 

Lydia strategized the best way to go about kissing her friends. She spent all of fourth period analyzing Erica's possible reactions to her request, and she figured that she would be the least awkward of all of them. She seemed pretty open and laid-back, so Lydia would start with her. Get her feet wet. Stiles was so going to pay for this. At least he wasn't yapping about Derek 24-7. No, instead he was giving her salacious smiles and asking her if she'd kissed anyone lately. She found it was best to just ignore him.

Finding Erica proved to be hard. Lydia didn't see her until Wednesday, and even then it was pure luck. She was out on the football field, and Lydia happened to glimpse her when she was walking to her car. No one was practicing and no one else was on the field, which was kind of odd. Shaking it off, Lydia climbed up onto the bleachers, slightly out of breath.

"Hey," she said, nudging Erica's leg as she sat down next to her.

"Hey, nerd," Erica said, smirking at her. "How have you been?"

"Pretty well. I'm sorry we haven't hung out lately. I--we should, more often."

"Yeah, maybe. What did you want, princess? I mean, why did you come out here?" Erica said, and there was an edge to her voice. Lydia had to remind herself that they were friends. Battling supernatural evil had a way of bringing people together, and even if Erica was still kind of snappish towards her, Lydia didn't take it personally.

"I kind of need to kiss you for a dare," Lydia said all in one breath. Ripping off the band-aid.

Erica raised her eyebrows and looked at her, sticking her hands in the pockets of her hoodie. "What?"

"Stiles dared me to. In exchange, he'll ask Derek out. So...will you? Oh, and I have to take a picture of it."

Erica huffed out a laugh, then shifted closer. "Hell yeah. If it'll get Stiles to grow a pair and put us all out of our misery." Without warning, she leaned forward and her lips connected with Lydia's. Her hands came to guide her face close, and it was sweet. Lydia managed to clumsily snap a picture with her phone, then it was over.

She stood up, smiling. "Thanks, Erica. You're a good friend. And I meant it, before. We should hang out sometime. Text me?"

"Yeah, sure." Erica gave her a wave and went back to staring pensively out at the football field.

One down, three to go. Lydia walked to her car, feeling an odd mixture of awkwardness, dread and excitement. She wasn't sure why. Maybe because she knew that she would have to kiss Cora, and...she didn't know what to expect. She couldn't read Cora very well; the girl was a mystery. Allison was her best friend, so Lydia could predict how she would act when Lydia asked to kiss her. Probably in the same way Erica had. No pain, a minimal amount of awkwardness. Easy and quick, and something that would never have to be talked about again because it wasn't like they liked each other or anything. But with Cora...

Lydia started her car and turned up her music loud to drown out her thoughts. She was doing this for Stiles. His love life was her priority right now and she wasn't going to get distracted. She drove home, thinking she'd ask Allison next.

 

\----

 

"Nice picture," Stiles commented the next day at lunch. He handed her phone back to her, obviously satisfied with the evidence of her and Erica's kiss. "Honestly, I didn't think you'd actually go through with this. That way I'd be able to just pine over Derek for the rest of my life."

Lydia rolled her eyes. "Nope. I am so not letting that happen. You are going to be happy, even if it kills me," she declared. She hurriedly put her phone away as she saw Cora walk into the cafeteria and looked down at her food. Not being able to see Cora didn't help how hyper aware Lydia was of her movements. She could practically feel Cora's eyes on her as the girl sat down at their table. She felt naked under her gaze and she didn't like it one bit. Where did Cora get off being so intimidatingly perfect, anyway? She was as bad as her brother.

"Hey," Cora said, and Lydia slowly raised her eyes to meet hers. The look on her face was unreadable. Big surprise.

"Hello, Cora," Lydia cleared her throat. She stabbed at her food, wishing that they served something other than...whatever the hell this was. It looked almost gelatinous. Was it overcooked squash? She should have just packed her own lunch.

Cora's intense gaze shifted to Stiles, and Lydia breathed out. She hadn't realized she'd been holding her breath, but whatever. It wasn't like it meant anything.

"What are you smiling about?" Cora asked Stiles, who was beaming.

"Oh nothing...just a little dare me and Lydia have going on," Stiles said, the damn twinkle in his eyes. Lydia now despised that fucking twinkle with everything she had. Because she knew that it meant Stiles was about to do an evil genius thing. She shifted closer to him and cocked her elbow, ready to nudge him hard in the ribs.

"Really? Sounds interesting," Cora said, and to Lydia's surprise, she actually sounded sincere. Her eyes locked onto Lydia's again, but she kept talking to Stiles. "And what exactly is this dare?"

"Just--" Stiles couldn't finish, because Lydia chose that moment to dig her elbow into his side. He coughed and his eyes watered. "Oh. Nothing. It's boring and nothing you'd be interested in," Stiles rasped. He glared at Lydia, but she resumed picking at her food. She didn't want Cora to know what was going on. Not yet. She wanted to be the one to tell her, but at the same time, she kind of dreaded it. That was why she planned on saving Cora for last.

"I--okay," Cora said slowly. She frowned and looked off into space for a second. "I guess I don't need to know. Just don't kill each other, okay?"

Lydia laughed and shook her head. "I doubt it will come to that," she said teasingly. Something in Cora's tone struck her and she looked into her eyes, curious for some sign as to what it meant. It almost sounded like Cora cared about her.

All in all, lunch period left Lydia kind of confused. It got less awkward as Cora talked about her classes and how she was planning on trying out for soccer, and then Scott and Isaac showed up. It gave Lydia a lot of time to study Cora, and to ponder how to complete Stiles' dare. There was no way she was backing out now. After lunch, she walked out of the cafeteria on her way to her next class. She didn't hear Cora's footsteps behind her and squeaked in surprise as she felt a hand on her arm.

"Hey, is something going on between you and Stiles?" Cora blurted, and Lydia couldn't stop herself from snorting.

"What? No way. We're just friends. Why would you even--"

"Because he kept giving you this creepy look and I just--I got curious, I guess."

"Cora, you know he's like, head over heels in love with your brother, right? He got over me ages ago."

"Oh. I uh--I didn't know that. I don't exactly pay him a lot of attention," Cora said, a slight flush to her cheeks. Lydia scratched the back of her neck. So much for her interactions with Cora not being awkward. "Sorry. I jumped to the wrong conclusion."

"It's all right. I'll talk to you later, okay? I have to get to class." Lydia took a step back and gave Cora a small smile.

"Oh, right. See you later, Lydia."

Lydia nodded, turned and walked to her locker, wondering how she could understand Archaic Latin and the most complicated of chemical equations, but when it came to Cora Hale, she was totally clueless.

 

\----

 

Lydia laid on Allison's bed, staring at the ceiling fan. She might as well get this over with. Stiles was getting more insufferable by the day and Cora's questions weren't helping. Yesterday had been strange, and it felt like her life was slowly twisting, morphing itself into something she didn't recognize. Lydia didn't know if that was a good thing. She didn't really know anything right now, except that Stiles desperately needed to get laid.

She sat up and looked over at Allison, who was on the other side of the bed putting the finishing touches on her French homework. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and Lydia wondered why she'd never thought about kissing Allison before. She was beautiful and she and Lydia were perfect for each other in a lot of ways. She'd make a great girlfriend, Lydia mused, but just not hers. She was her best friend and always would be. They were platonic soul mates, really, and Lydia wouldn't have it any other way. That was a great comfort, because she knew that after she kissed her, they could just laugh it off.

"Hey," Lydia began, and Allison looked up, her French homework momentarily forgotten. "So, funny story. I kind of made a deal with Stiles, and the terms are: He asks Derek out on a date if I kiss you, Erica, Cora and Malia. So...yeah."

Allison smirked. "Sometimes I forget how smart you are. I wish I'd come up with that."

Lydia leaned back on the headboard and shook her head. "No, you don't. Stiles has been bugging the shit out of me all week. So the sooner I do this, the better. Are you--are you up for it?" Lydia asked, feeling stupid for not asking first.

"Oh. Yeah, of course. I ship Sterek," Allison said casually, putting her French textbook on the nightstand.

Lydia's eyebrow twitched. "You spend too much time on tumblr."

"That's impossible," Allison protested, and placed a hand over her chest in mock pain. She then smirked and leaned over, pressing a chaste kiss to Lydia's mouth.

Lydia had to admit, girls were good kissers. At least, Erica and Allison were. No slobber, no clumsy hands, and they knew just how much pressure to apply to her mouth so it wasn't suffocating. She fumbled for her phone and snapped a picture, then pulled back.

"Thanks. I have to say, you're a great kisser."

"You're not bad yourself. So, want to watch a movie?"

Lydia nodded, scooting closer as Allison pulled up her Netflix menu. Nothing had changed, just like she knew it would.

 

\----

 

Going to the Hale house was her only option at this point, since Malia didn't go to Beacon Hills High School. Lydia didn't really want to; she knew that was where Peter was currently residing and she would rather not run into him. She tightened her grip on the steering wheel as she turned into the driveway, admiring how nice the house looked now that it had been rebuilt. She took a breath and steeled herself for whatever might happen.

Derek answered the door, and led her to Malia's room after she stuttered a lie about having to talk to Malia about supernatural stuff. He probably knew she was lying, but he didn't comment on it. She heaved a sigh of relief as Derek walked down the hall and pointed to Malia's door. She knocked and waited for a moment before Malia swung the door open. She was in her pajamas even though it was only 6 o'clock. On a Monday. She raised an eyebrow in silent question and stepped out into the hallway, leaving her door ajar. Lydia caught a glimpse of a Runaways poster on her wall, and was impressed that Malia even knew who they were, given her eight years as a werecoyote. Stiles had obviously done a good job educating her on pop culture and good music.

"Lydia, hey," Malia said softly. "What are you doing here?"

"Hi. I, um...can I come in?" She asked, not wanting to talk about this in the hallway.

"Sure." Malia pulled her inside and shut her door. She turned and searched Lydia's face, a question in her eyes. Lydia didn't quail under the scrutiny; she knew the other girl didn't mean to look intense or threatening. Honestly, she wished Malia could just read her mind because she was getting tired of having to tell her spiel over and over. She should have made a t-shirt specifically for this dare just to save some time. STILES DARED ME TO KISS YOU SO HE'LL FINALLY ASK DEREK ON A DATE. Simple. But something told Lydia that Cora probably wouldn't appreciate it. She really didn't want to think about Cora right now, though.

Lydia listlessly walked into the room, looking around before meeting Malia's eyes again. "So, you know that Stiles likes Derek, right?" She asked.

"Yeah. I can smell it whenever he's around him. And it's mutual," Malia said, her lips turning up into a disgusted grimance.

"I knew it. Well, see, I made a deal with Stiles. He'll ask Derek on a date if I kiss you, Erica, Cora and Allison. All my best friends, basically."

"Oh. Uh...I'm one of your best friends?" Malia asked. She sounded surprised, which struck at Lydia's heartstrings.

"Yeah, of course you are," Lydia said, smiling softly. "So...um..."

"Wait a second. Did you say Stiles dared you to kiss Cora too?" Malia questioned, holding up a finger. She looked confused, like she was trying to piece a puzzle together. Lydia practically saw a light bulb go on over Malia's head, but hell if she knew what was going on. "Oh, he's a fucking genius," Malia breathed, then started laughing.

"What are you talking about? And what about Cora? She's not here, is she?" Lydia inquired. She didn't really know why she asked that last question; it just kind of fell out of her mouth.

"No. She's at soccer practice. And--nothing. You'll figure it out eventually, I guess. I don't want to meddle." Malia smirked at her almost condescendingly and for a moment, Lydia wanted nothing more than to slap the smirk off her face. She hated being left in the dark. What about Cora? What had Stiles done that was so 'genius?' She shook her head to clear it and blinked.

"Look, can we just do this?"

"Fine," Malia nodded, and sat down on the bed. Lydia followed her. It was hardly romantic, but then, Lydia didn't need it to be.

She got her phone out and set it in camera mode, then placed it on her lap. She leaned forward, getting closer. She could feel Malia's breath on her face, and closed her eyes. Malia's fingers came to rest on her knees, and she felt the warmth seep through her jeans. Their lips met and Lydia moved closer. Her arm moved up, ready to take a picture.

"Hey, Malia, can I borrow your gym shorts? Because mine have a hole in the crotch and I don't really know how in the hell that happened and--oh my god!" Cora exclaimed.

Lydia jumped back and looked frantically at Cora. Shit. She felt guilty, almost, but she couldn't fathom why. Malia was standing at this point, holding up her hands in a placating gesture. Lydia knew that whatever happened in the next few seconds would not be good. Because Cora's fists were clenched tight, her face was red, her arms and shoulders tense. She was radiating anger out of every pore and Lydia half expected her claws to come out.

"What in the hell is going on here?" Cora asked, trying and failing to sound calm.

"Cora, it's not what you think," Malia spoke. "It's for a stupid--"

Malia didn't get a chance to explain further, because Cora turned and stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

Lydia flinched and turned back to Malia, feeling like she had just made a colosall mess of everything. So much for trying to be a good friend. She had just shattered her friendship with Cora, and maybe Malia too.

"I--I'm sorry," Lydia shuddered. She wanted to cry. "I--will she ever talk to me again?"

"Yeah, I think so. Honestly, she's more mad at me. I think--I think you should go. I'll try to talk her down and text you later, okay?"

Lydia nodded, hurriedly picking up her phone off the bed. She slipped out of the room and rushed out of the house, feeling humiliated and hurt and confused. She'd hurt Cora somehow, she knew, and part of her dreaded that it couldn't be fixed. She'd seen the look on her face, how she looked like she wanted to murder her cousin. And finally, the mystery that was Cora Hale wasn't quite so mysterious anymore. Not that it made Lydia feel any better. She had fucked everything up before she and Cora even had a chance to begin, and wasn't that just tragic as fuck?

 

\----

 

The next week passed by in a blur, and Lydia barely managed to keep up with her homework. Cora didn't come sit with her and Stiles at lunch, and when Lydia asked Isaac where she was, he would just shrug and say he didn't know. That hurt. Cora was obviously avoiding her and getting her best friend to lie to her. Great. Malia hadn't fared much better. She had tried to talk to Cora, but Cora was a master of avoiding pain and running away, it seemed.

Stiles, for his part, felt really bad about it.

"I'm sorry, Lyds," he'd say, over and over. It helped somewhat. At least the stupid dare was forgotten. Stiles went back to pining over Derek and Lydia went back to tolerating it. She just wished that everything could return to the way it was before she had decided to meddle in her best friend's love life instead of paying attention to her own. Maybe then she would have noticed that there was something hanging between her and Cora, waiting to happen. Now she didn't even have that.

The weekend came and Lydia spent it in her bed, watching episodes of Supernatural and gorging herself on ice cream. She texted Cora three times, then gave up, knowing she wouldn't text her back. She didn't know how to reach her. Monday came and Lydia dragged herself to school, feeling more like a zombie as the day progressed.

After a grueling day of stupid tests and stupid teachers, the evening finally arrived. Lydia finished her homework and was settling herself in for a night of rom coms when the doorbell rang. Her mom was teaching late at the university, so she got up to answer the door sluggishly. She walked down the stairs and opened the door at a glacial pace, her eyes bugging out wide when she saw Malia standing on the porch, sporting a nasty looking shiner. Her left cheekbone was bruised pretty badly too.

"Shit, Malia, what happened to you?" Lydia demanded, even though she already knew. She just wished she was wrong.

"Cora," Malia said simply. "She punched me for kissing you. You have to know she likes you, right? I mean, I know you have the personality of a Hufflepuff, and they're supposed to be oblivious, but this is just a whole new level of ridiculous."

"You--you know Harry Potter?"

"Yeah. They were the first books Stiles gave me to read," Malia said casually, as if she was just shooting the shit with a friend and there was no underlying drama going on. Lydia really loved that about her.

"Good for him. They're must-reads, in my opinion." Lydia leaned against the doorway, wanting to hold onto this conversation for just a moment longer.

"I know, right? And Hermione's totally a babe." Malia grinned before turning serious. "Wanna let me in?" She queried.

"Oh. Right. Please come in." Malia stepped inside and looked around before sitting on the beige couch in the living room.

"So. Have you tried texting her?"

"Yeah. No response. You?"

"Same. I really don't know what to do." Malia huffed, frustrated, and leaned back. "Are any ideas running through that brilliant mind of yours?"

Lydia shrugged. "Maybe, but I don't know if it'll work."

 

\----

 

Stiles shut his locker and scratched his face, fixing Lydia with a skeptical look. He'd agreed to part of her plan, but Lydia could tell he was having trouble with the whole 'breaking-and-entering' thing. Even if it was just a locker, and Stiles wouldn't technically be breaking in if the locker was open.

"You want me to steal some of Isaac's deodorant? And his phone? How am I supposed to steal both without him noticing?"

"Easy. You have lacrosse practice with him, right? Just wait for him to take a shower and take the deodorant from his locker. And as for the phone, just grab his from the bucket in Miss Forbes' class. Come on Stiles, you owe me." Lydia pleaded, jutting her lip out slightly for good measure.

Her friend sighed. "Fine. But if I get caught and get detention--"

"You won't. It's not like Isaac will report you. He's not that petty."

"Well, I guess we'll see, won't we?" Stiles gave her a small smile, and turned to walk to his next class.

Lydia watched him go and crossed her fingers, hoping Stiles could do this. The idea of him acting all sinister and secretive caused a smirk to play upon her lips, and a chuckle trickled its way out of her mouth. It felt good. She hadn't really laughed in a while. She made her way to her next class, keeping an eye out for Cora, half knowing that she wouldn't see her. Her shoulders slumped and she closed her eyes for a moment. This had better work.

Three hours later, Lydia waited for Stiles by her locker. She leaned back against the cold metal and fiddled with the strap of her back pack. The hallway was crowded, but Lydia's sharp eyes caught sight of Stiles walking towards her. She pushed off the lockers and looked at him expectantly.

"So, did you get them?"

"Yep," Stiles answered triumphantly, beaming as he pulled out a deodorant stick and a phone out of the pockets of his jacket. "How much do you love me?"

"More than you'll ever know. Now I just have to text her," Lydia murmured, and bit her lip. "Oh, and Stiles...um...thanks. I know that this dare got way out of hand and it was stupid to meddle in your life like that--"

"Hey," Stiles said softly, stepping closer to her. He bent forward and put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, it's okay. To be honest, I might have had some motivations for that dare. We both tried to play matchmaker and it backfired. No biggie."

Lydia looked up at him quizzically. "You--you mean you wanted me to kiss Cora? Then why didn't you just say, 'I dare you to kiss Cora?'"

Stiles shrugged. "Too obvious. You would have freaked out and wouldn't have done it."

Lydia considered that for a moment. "It's terrifying how well you know me," she marveled. 'Better than I know myself,' she added in thought.

Stiles just smiled at her. She gave him a small hug and bit her lip, nodding. She knew what she had to do. She pulled out Isaac's phone and typed up a text:

_Hey, I just got done with lacrosse. Wanna meet me by the south wall in ten minutes?_

Lydia pressed 'send' and sucked in a breath. It was done now, she couldn't undo it. It was the first step to getting Cora to talk to her. To get her to understand that this was all just a stupid misunderstanding that stemmed from an adolescent attempt at matchmaking. She hoped Cora would get it. She hoped Cora wouldn't punch her too.

She just hoped for way too much sometimes.

Isaac's phone buzzed.

**Sure. I'll be there.**

Lydia could barely contain her squeal, and looked up and down the hallway, embarrassed. She hurried to the nearest restroom and went into a stall, putting on Isaac's deodorant. With each step she took, she felt more and more anxious, and her mind was practically buzzing with thoughts of what she'd say to Cora when she saw her. She was excited and nervous and dreading it all at once, a conglomeration of feelings that was all too familiar to her now. Cora made her feel so much that it was hard to sort through. All this time she hadn't once thought that what she felt for Cora might be a result of underlying attraction, or unresolved sexual tension. But now it all added up.

She made her way outside and pulled her jacket tighter around her torso. She walked to the south wall, then walked to the west one, so she'd be concealed from sight. She hated being so deceitful and borderline stalkerish, but she was out of options. She waited with baited breath, every moment pure torture. Her heart was pounding like a bongo drum and her hands were sweating.

"Isaac?" She heard, and her breath caught. "Isaac, you here?"

Lydia moved quickly, walking around the corner of the wall into Cora's line of sight.

"Hey," she said softly, scared of what Cora might do. She'd prefer to get punched than for her to just run away.

"You," Cora growled. "I knew something was off about his--your scent. I couldn't smell his wolf."

Lydia bit her lip. "I'm sorry I had to be so shady, I just--I really need to talk to you."

Cora laughed, but it came out sounding bitter and hollow. Not at all how Lydia wanted to remember Cora's laugh. "It didn't look like that when you were kissing my cousin."

Lydia knew she had to tread carefully here. She was holding a time bomb, and while she was sure Cora wouldn't hurt her, she didn't want things to continue this way. She didn't want things to go back to the way they were either, she suddenly realized. She looked at Cora, who was donning her anger like armor, and sighed. Only the most honest of gestures would get Cora to relax and not gird herself for battle.

"Listen, Cora. Stiles dared me to kiss all my best girl friends, okay? It was a dare. It--I don't like Malia like that."

Cora rolled her eyes. "Right. Like I should believe you."

"You can tell if I'm lying, right?" Lydia said loudly, stepping closer to Cora. "You can hear my heartbeat, sense all my tells. So tell me, am I lying? I don't like Malia like that," she insisted, making a desperate gesture with her hands.

She could see Cora's armor reluctantly cracking. "Well, no. You're not. But...it doesn't mean that you--oh, forget this. I don't know why I'm even talking to you. I know you planned this all out, Lydia. Great job. I commend you on your perseverance. But one thing you didn't count on was: I just really don't want to fucking talk to you," Cora growled, leaning close to Lydia's face.

Lydia could feel Cora's breath on her cheeks, and she couldn't help but observe how beautiful Cora was this close. Her eyes, though angry, gave off a light that Lydia was automatically drawn to. She was powerless against her gaze, and she could feel herself melting. She liked Cora too, she suddenly realized. She liked her a lot. Even though she was headstrong and stubborn and she punched her own cousin in the face. Cora had been misguided, but she'd done everything for her. And if it hadn't been for the idiotic dare, Lydia would have never figured it out. How ironic that it was because of that same dare that she'd never get a chance to kiss Cora. No matter how desperately she wanted to.

The dam broke then. A tear fell, and then more came, until she was sobbing. Cora, to her credit, didn't leave.

"Oh damn it, don't fucking cry," she protested. "Lydia, please, I--I can't handle you crying."

"Just go then," Lydia said. "Just leave me alone."

"That's just it," Cora said, her voice breaking. "I can't."

Lydia looked up at her then, and all the anger in her eyes was gone. In its place was an intense and breathtaking gaze, one that bespoke care, affection and desire, things that Lydia had previously been blind to. She shook her head, feeling indignant. "Don't stay just because you feel sorry for me. Don't do this out of some misguided--"

"Just...shut up for a second," Cora said, chuckling slightly. She stepped even closer and reached out with her thumbs to wipe away Lydia's tears. Her touch was warm and gentle and Lydia's tears dried, leaving her feeling safe and protected by how close Cora was now. "I want to say some things, okay? I've liked you for a long time. I like how smart you are, and how much you care about your friends. You're beautiful and I never thought I had a chance with you. So when I saw you kiss my cousin, I kind of lost it. And I understand if you just want to be friends, or not even that."

"Don't be stupid." Lydia replied. "I tracked you down, didn't I? I want you in my life."

"Okay." Cora sighed in relief, a strained smile reaching her lips slowly. She held out her hand awkwardly. "Friends, then? We can put this whole thing behind us?"

Lydia looked down at Cora's proffered hand and then back up at her face. She reached for her hand and wrapped her own around it tightly. "Sure," she said, before pulling the other girl closer to her and leaning in to kiss her. it was soft and tentative at first, and she expected Cora to push her away. Instead, she deepened the kiss, reacting instantaneously to Lydia's touch. Cora's hands fell on Lydia's waist and she guided her closer, moaning softly. Lydia's ponytail came undone at one point and she knew it was kind of tacky to be making out behind the school wall, but she didn't care. She was making out with Cora Hale. And it was better than all three of her previous kisses put together.

Finally, Cora pulled back and put her hands on her shoulders. She leaned her forehead against hers and sighed. "You don't have to take a picture, by the way," she said. "Because I'll definitely be making out with you in front of Stiles."

Lydia just chuckled and leaned in to kiss her again.

 

\----

 

"So...are you dating then?" Stiles asked, gesturing between the two of them. Cora and Lydia were holding hands in the hallway at school, and Lydia was leaning against Cora's locker. They'd been making out when Stiles interrupted them.

"Yep," Cora said, and slung her arm around Lydia's shoulder. "Got a problem, Stilinski?"

"Nope," Stiles said. "Except for the fact that everyone is in a relationship but me," he groaned.

Lydia perked up. "Oh, that reminds me. You need to ask Derek out."

**Author's Note:**

> I really hadn't expected this to be this long. I thought it would be crack, but it turned into angst? I still don't know how. My muse is a mysterious fucker.


End file.
